For the Canton-Galva baseball team, going to the Class 2-1A state tournament is almost expected.

Brad Hallier - The Hutchinson News - bhallier@hutchnews.com

Thursday

May 22, 2008 at 12:01 AMMay 22, 2008 at 6:00 PM

For the young program in Moscow, just getting enough players has been an accomplishment. When the Wildcats made it to the state tournament last year, they did so with just nine players.

But since last May when the Wildcats won a first-round thriller against Spearville - a game that saw their starting shortstop break an ankle and use the student manager to fill in - and finished in fourth place, baseball and the boys sports in general have taken off at Moscow.

The football team went 6-3, and the basketball team lost on a last-second shot to Greensburg in the substate final, finishing 20-4.

Now it's baseball season, and Moscow returns to the 2-1A tournament in Emporia with a glossy 18-2 record. Moscow, the No. 4 seed, will take on state-tournament-regular Canton-Galva at 6:30 p.m.

"It's a great time to be a Moscow High School boy athlete," coach Stu Moore said. "I think they've only lost something like eight or nine games all year."

What's more, the baseball team actually has some leeway for injuries this year.

"We have a whopping 14 players," Moore said with a laugh. "That's more than I know what to do with."

Many of those players have been smacking the ball all over the place. A number of Wildcats have eye-popping numbers, led by junior Jace Moore. Through the regular season, the coach's son was batting an amazing .620 with five home runs and 32 RBIs.

Junior Taylor Roop was hitting .500 before regionals, while junior Dexter Hittle was at .463 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs.

Like Moscow, Canton-Galva has many players who played in last year's state tournament. Canton-Galva fell in the first round last year to eventual champion Pittsburg-Colgan 8-5 in 10 innings.

"All but three returned from last year, but those were some pretty good players we lost," Canton-Galva coach Joe Rierson said. "This was our goal all season - to return to state. We didn't stress league as much. It is important, but our goal was to get to the state tournament."

The Eagles' road to the championship couldn't get much tougher. Their path to the title could include three of the top four teams from last year.

"(Moscow) right off the bat," Rierson said. "We've got a tough first game, and we would like to play two (games) on Saturday this year. We'll see what happens, but I know we'll be ready. I'm just glad we're back."

l Southwestern Heights softball - The Hi-Plains League routinely sends teams to the state tournament, with teams like Elkhart and Stanton County being regulars.

This year, it's Southwestern Heights. The Mustangs (17-4) enter the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will take on No. 2 Udall (22-1) at 5 p.m. at Trusler Sports Complex. Udall was the 2006 2-1A state champion, the first Class 1A school ever to win it.

The Mustangs had a tough road to state. As the No. 2 seed in the Kismet regional, Southwestern Heights first beat 13-6 Sublette and then 18-2 and top-seed Elkhart, which was at state last year.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.